The official blog of Innovadores and the Innovadores Foundation

Category: Cuba News

Yesterday, Google signed a deal with the Cuban government to increase the speed of service for some of the company’s most popular services. This comes a week after a story leaked indicating that the Obama administration was pushing deals between the Cuban government and both GE and Google. It comes just days after Alphabet Inc. Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt was spotted in one of Havana’s … Continue reading Google Signs Deal with Cuba to Speed its Services

Photo: Fernando Medina Fernández / Cachivache Media Back in August, Kcho Studios hosted a tournament for Defense of the Ancients (DotA), known as Cuba DotA 2016. A similar event was held last year, at the Fabrica de Arte Cubano (FAC). This year is a big deal for a few reason: it’s the first time that Cubans have used Steam, a popular gaming platform; it’s the first time … Continue reading A DotA Tournament in Kcho Studios

The Cuban government recently announced they would be expanding their wifi hotspots to include all five miles of the Malecon. Although the service will be continue to be very expensive for ordinary Cubans, the increase in access points will be welcomed. This is the next step in a government program that began a year and a half ago. In order to increase internet access to … Continue reading Wifi Coming to the Malecon

There’s no lack of interesting news to report in Cuba, but only a handful of news sources. For decades, the only written media source on the island was Granma, the state-run newspaper. More recently, as access to the internet has increased, new blogs and online magazines publications have started popping up. These new sites are great because they offer commentary on specific topics or … Continue reading The Newest of the News

I was always a history buff, so Cuba held a place in my heart as a country that’s exotic, culturally rich, and frequently fought over. As an aspiring pirate myself, I also admired a deep water port and a decent bluff to guard the entrance. No Caribbean nation has the history and culture that Cuba is blessed with and it always fascinating to me that … Continue reading Miles to Go in Cuba

Pokemon Go, the smash-hit augmented reality game from Niantic, has broken records and already played in countries all over the world. Now it can add Cuba to the list. Downloading the app isn’t permitted in Cuba because the game is only available in certain countries and the Google Play and Apple App stores don’t work the country. Despite this, users are accessing the game using … Continue reading Pokemon Go-es to Cuba. Well, sort of

OnCuba recently profiled our favorite design shop in Cuba, Clandestina 99% Diseno Cubano, who we wrote about here. In perhaps the most interesting portion of the article, founders Idania Del Rio and Leire Fernández discuss their difficulties in creating a new Cuban brand. The idea of a “brand” is fascinating in a country where, for decades, the only brand was the state. You still see … Continue reading On Cuba on Clandestina, Our Favorite Clothing Shop in Havana

A big announcement out of Cuba a few months ago was the launch of Google’s internet center at Kcho’s studio. Kcho, famous Cuban artist Alexis Leiva Machado, a close friend of Cuban leader Fidel Castro, gained permission from the Cuban government to provide internet access and, perhaps just as importantly, Google-supplied Chromebooks at his studio in Havana. Google had earlier approached the Cuban government with … Continue reading Kcho+Google Offers Internet to Cubans, with Limitations